SOCIETY IN BRIEF 15/12

Toyota Viet Nam Fund (TVF) has announced a grant of 146 scholarships worth VND543 million (US$25,900) this year for excellent university students of technology and environment.

The students are from 16 universities nationwide.

The TVF has granted 1,533 scholarships worth $7.3 million for Vietnamese students since 1997, according to Dang Phan Thu Huong, deputy general director of Toyota Viet Nam.Man saved after being shot with 80 pellets

39-year-old Huynh Ngoc Hai, of District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, has been saved by doctors at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after he was shot with over 80 lead pellets on Tuesday by a neighbor who suspected Hai of having a suspicious relationship with his wife.

Ta Chi Hoang, 39, who used a shotgun, which sprays an area with dozens of small pellets, to shoot Hai, was arrested after police besiege his house and persuaded him to surrender.

Yesterday, Dec 14, Dr Pham Minh Anh, deputy head of the Chest and Blood Vessel Department at Cho Ray Hospital, said Hai has recovered after several surgeries.

Hai was earlier taken to District 6 General Hospital in critical condition. Dr Dang Hoang Khai said Hai suffered serious blood loss from the numerous gunshots he endured.

“As his condition was extremely critical, we immediately gave him first aid and transfusions and then transferred him to Cho Ray,” Khai said.

The X-rays taken from Hai showed that more than 80 bullets were scattered across his chest, abdomen and arms, causing multiple complex injuries, so the removal of all the bullets was very difficult, Dr. Anh said.

The small lead bullets, with a diameter of 3 millimeters, could have caused lead poisoning in the patient, he warned.

After a medical consultation meeting was held to discuss ways to save him, several surgeries were performed on Hai at 9 pm yesterday by two teams of surgeons to deal with the wounds that most endangered the victim’s life, the doctor said.

The surgeries were completed after four hours and the patient has recovered, he said.

The police yesterday said they were taking steps to prosecute Hoang, who not only shot Hai, but also repeatedly opened fire on police, injuring one officer, Lieutenant Le Hoang Viet.

Viet told Tuoi Tre yesterday, Dec 14, night that he had been discharged after treatment at a hospital, but that a few pellets remain in his arm. He added that this issue would be handled by doctors when he is re-examined.

Hoang told the police that his wife and Hai had had a dubious relationship, and he once warned Hai to stop contacting his wife, but the man ignored his warning.

Hoang said that he phoned Hai on Tuesday and a quarrel broke out between them, after which they agreed to meet later to resolve the conflict.

At 1:15 pm the same day, Hoang used a shotgun to shoot Hai, who was driving a motorbike past Hoang’s house.

After being shot, Hai managed to run away on foot, but Hai continued shooting until Hoang collapsed to the ground.

The police were called to the scene, and Hoang rushed into his house and then moved to the top floor, where he fired five or six more times at the police force gathered below.

The police used a loudspeaker to persuade the shooter to surrender and warned that if he continued to resist, he would be killed.

Around 2 pm, Hoang finally surrendered to the police, who seized his gun and escorted him to his home to conduct a search of the property.

The police found three more guns, many lead bullets, gunpowder, detonators, scimitars, knives, and some other tools. They seized the weapons for investigation.

Hai has operated a business from the house he has leased for the past few years, while Hoang and his wife lived next door, the local police said.

Hoang is an engineer who has no criminal convictions and is not involved in any organized criminal gangs, police added.

Illegal tankers seized in Quang Ninh

A number of illegal foreign tankers that entered Vietnamese waters have been seized off the coast of the northern province of Quang Ninh since the beginning of this month.

On December 5, an inspection team from the Viet Nam Customs Department seized a Chinese tanker transporting 180 tonnes of DO petroleum, and then on December 12, the team seized two more Chinese tankers that were also transporting more than 100 tonnes of petroleum into Viet Nam.

The crew were unable to produce documentation regarding the origin of the petroleum, worth more than VND6 billion (US$ 285,000).

Trafficking by sea often occurs at night with the participation of both Vietnamese and foreign smugglers, making it difficult for authorities to crack down.

Customs officials have joined up with border guards to strengthen patrols and inspections ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Woman saved from domestic violence in Taiwan

Thanks to the help of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City, a Vietnamese bride in Taiwan has been saved from the violent behavior of her Taiwanese husband and will be taken to Vietnam in the weeks to come.

Efforts to save 29-year-old Pham Thi Kim Thanh, a native of Thoi Lai District, Can Tho City, have been made after her mother, Nguyen Kim The, 58, asked for help from relevant agencies in Vietnam.

On December 3rd, The was informed by a friend of Thanh’s, who is also living in Taiwan, of Thanh’s suffering under the violence of her Taiwanese husband and his family in Bei Kou hamlet, Hua Tan commune, Zhang Hua district, Taiwan.

Since arriving in Taiwan, Thanh had often been beaten, abused, and banned from leaving her husband’s house, Thanh’s friend said.

The contacted Thanh’s husband, Chung Yung Hua, through a Taiwanese-speaking acquaintance in an effort to discuss the issue, but the man just said he didn’t want to be disturbed and then hung up.

On December 7th, The provided newspapers and relevant agencies, including the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in HCMC, with a copy of her daughter’s marriage certificate and Notice 359 issued by the Can Tho Justice Department confirming the marriage between Thanh and Chung.

Six days later, on December 13th, The received news from the Office that it had intervened in the case, and that Thanh had been taken out of her husband’s house, and would subsequently be repatriated to Vietnam.

One day earlier, Taiwanese police, after their investigation, concluded that Thanh had been mistreated by Chung, so they requested the Anti-Domestic Violence Center in Taiwan to intervene.

Thanh was later taken to a safe place for care and will be repatriated in a few weeks, the local police said.

Talking with VTC News, The said since her husband passed away a long time ago, she has struggled to bring up five children, of whom Thanh is the youngest. Due to her family’s poor financial conditions, Thanh left school after completing grade 9 to work as domestic help for a local family.

In early April 2009, a friend of Thanh’s suggested that she go along with her to Ho Chi Minh City to seek a foreign husband in an effort to help their families escape poverty.

“Thanh later married Chung, who gave her mother just VND5 million (US$238) at the wedding party, which was held on June 1st, 2009 in HCMC. Nobody from Chung’s family attended the party," The said.

A few days after the wedding, Thanh and Chung returned to Can Tho to register their marriage before leaving Vietnam for Taiwan, she added.

The pangolins, weighing 254kg totally, were being illegally transported in a Camry car.

Driver Nguyen Duy Vui, 35, of central Nghe An Province, failed to show legal documents to prove the origin of the pangolins.

Police are continuing to hunt another other man who escaped. Trading and transporting pangolins is banned under law.

Schoolboys watch as girl is beaten

A video clip capturing the violent scene of a group of schoolgirls fighting, and the uninterested passivity of schoolboys, at a classroom in a high school in Bac Giang northern province has attracted thousands of hits on YouTube, the popular video-sharing site.

In the video clip posted on YouTube on December 9, a group of schoolgirls rush into a classroom to search for another schoolgirl before swearing at a girl wearing a yellow T-shirt.

They then begin a bitter argument with the girl, who is believed to be their foe.

The quarrel becomes uncontrollable as a school-girl in a grey T-shirt continually slaps her face and snatches her hair, while another girl in a blue T-shirt climbs onto a table and repeatedly kicks the victim’s head.

There were a number of schoolboys observing the fight, but none of them intervened to protect the victim.

According to a source, the schoolgirls are currently studying at a private school in Quynh Son commune, Yen Dung district of Bac Giang.

Just a few days ago, another video clip on YouTube capturing 20 schoolgirls in Ha Tinh central province participating in a catfight while many schoolboys gathered around them and cheered also caused a stir among the online community.

A 3-minute video clip posted on Youtube on November 28 depicting three girls violently attacking another girl wearing a blue T-shirt amidst cheers and encouragement from bystanders created a similar public outrage.

Latex firms caught polluting streams

Five rubber latex processing companies in southern Binh Duong Province’s Dau Tieng District have been found violating environmental protection regulations, according to the Environment Protection Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security.

During a four-day (December 9-12) campaign against violations of environmental law in the district, a special team from the department caught the companies discharging untreated wastewater into streams that flow into Dau Tieng Lake.

The department has said it will test pollution levels and fine the companies.

HCM City begins $146mil project to improve canal

On Tuesday, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Upgrading Project Management Unit (HUUP) held a groundbreaking ceremony to begin a project to improve the polluted Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal, in the city’s west.

The project will upgrade 7.4 kilometers of canal, dredge 400,000 cubic meters of mud, build 11.8km of roads and 10 new bridges, and build culverts along the canal banks for draining wastewater.

The undertaking will focus on collecting rubbish, treating waste, improving the sewage system, and upgrading the roads along the canal.

It will also beautify 14,120 square meters at four sites along the canal in Districts 6, 11, Tan Phu and Tan Binh.

The project, which is estimated to cost more than US$146 million, will be financed by a World Bank loan and is expected to be completed by mid-2014.

Le Thanh Liem, director of HUUP, said the project will help prevent high tides from affecting the four districts that the canal runs through.

Tan Hoa – Lo Gom is severely polluted since untreated wastewater from houses and factories along the canal is released directly into the waterway, negatively impacting the lives of more than 1 million local residents.